Clutch Cargo – Volume
One set (VCI)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C Program:
B-
More people have probably at least seen a small clip from Clutch
Cargo than realize. The animated
show began in 1959 and was actually featured during the scene with Christopher
Walken and the watch story in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. This was a show that was unlike anything
else of its time and is still quite memorable even after all these years to
some.
One innovation that the show utilized was by putting
actors mouths inside the animation to make it seem like the animations were
really talking and moving. The effect
seems so hokey now, but not back then.
The show’s main character Clutch Cargo was an adventurer who would fly
his plane along with his dachshund Paddlefoot and friend Spinner, and sometimes
his other pal Swampy to the next site of adventure and excitement.
The show was unique in its format and in form as the
episodes were only 4 minutes in length, but it took five of the shows to end a particular
series. The first four were
cliffhangers and the final show wrapped up the story. VCI has issued their Volume 1, which contains 9 total adventures,
and each one as mentioned has 5 parts, so therefore a total of 45 4-minute
segments and that equals 3 hours of fun!
The installments include:
Pirate
Isle
Twaddle
in Africa
Air Race
Dynamite
Fury
Water
Wizards
Dragon
Fly’s
Friendly
Head Hunters
Race Car
Mystery
Elephant
Nappers
What you have to appreciate about the shows is their
innovation by using a Synchro Vox system that allowed the creators to
essentially place live-actors behind the animation, which by today’s standards
seems to archaic, but this would set in motion so many possibility in animation
and live action alone for years to come, just think about how often
superimposed images are now used?
The show is no doubt old and shows that, but for this DVD,
presented in 1.33 X 1 full frame and in color, the show actually looks quite
good. It was better than what I had
expected going in and colors are right on the money for the most part. While detail comes and goes the picture
remains fairly solid throughout and makes for an enjoyable experience. Even the Dolby Digital mono is still in good
tact to make the experience come together well. The only extra is a lengthy (11 min.) trailer for VCI animation
titles including this and also Popeye that is really cool. Be sure to give this a look sometime in your
life if you haven’t seen it before you will definitely never forget this one.
- Nate Goss
